At the turn from May to June, the European Union (EU) suffered a "black week": the French rejected the EU Constitution in the referendum on May 29th, closely followed by the Dutch on June 1st. Britain announced on June 6th that it will postpone its referendum on the EU Constitution. In Poland and the Czech Republic, where the ratification process has not been carried out, support for the constitution continued the decline. The EU was confronted with a violent rainstorm.

"European skeptics" have sounded the warning that "the EU Constitution will die", which was typically represented in the black humor of British Conservative Parliament member Liam Fox who said that while he no longer practices medicine, "I can tell a corpse when I see one and this is a case for the morgue if ever there was one."

In order to reverse this tragic tendency, a number of political figures from Brussels to Berlin, from Paris to Lisbon, counterattacked the "death theory", saying that the rectification process will not be halted hereby and the EU will step forward along the path of integration.

French new Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy and the Minister of European Affairs went to the EU headquarters to make clear their stance: the EU Constitution will be here forever and France has never been as expectant as it is now to continue the construction of Europe. Top leaders of France and Germany met in Paris on June 10th clarifying that the two countries will still play a role of "engine" in the integration. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the EU Constitution is a correct path towards the future. This obviously did not earn him the negative label of "destroyer" or "separatist".

For European politicians, it is unbearable to be accused of "disrupting the integration process". The cause of integration is a brand-new regional association process and a magnificent social undertaking. It has its social and historical basis for birth and progress and its fundamental impetus stems from the aspiration for sustained peace and the pursuit of a prosperous economy, flourishing politics and military power.

There is an "American dream": the pursuit of wealth and freedom by the individual; there is also a "European dream", which is a "dream of power" for the overall prosperity of the continent.

Over the half century since the establishment of European Community, the predecessor of the EU, dreamers, one batch after another, have been outlining the blueprint for Europe with their idealistic enthusiasm. Despite twists and turns, grand plans were realized one after another with a continuously expanding territory of the EU.

After the passage of the EU Constitution at a European leaders' meeting in Rome, European elite optimistically thought that blessed by the constitution, the dawn of a federal and united Europe has arrived. Unexpectedly, the cause suffered a stormy raid early this summer.

The EU integration process will not be interrupted by a temporary setback. However, the EU will inevitably experience a "wound-healing period". The remedy specifically concerns democratic consultation, extension of the period of rectification, a "mercy period" for irresolute countries and proper revisions to the constitution. For example, the Czechs demanded to squeeze the constitution to no more than 20 pages to make it understandable for the masses as well as political elite. The new French government has launched a new administration with two goals: to reduce unemployment and to rebuild the trust between the government and people.

A focus of concern is how European countries will take the road to reform effectively. Europe had exerted huge energy, now what is it lacking? Is it to greet the challenges from the outside with a broadened mind, or to cower back with indulgence in self-admiration? Is it to seize the opportunity of economic globalization and conduct in-depth socio-economic reform, or to remain complacent and conservative, rejecting the competitive mechanism?

These are the in-depth reflections aroused by the frustration of the constitution. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's criticism of the EU was acute but accurate. He said that what the EU lacks is realism; it has not taken measures to make good use of the strength of globalization. French newly appointed Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin also admitted frankly that France is not well prepared for the changes in the outside world.

According to people of insight, Europeans can get rid of their fear of and repulsion for the outside and Europe can be more forceful in its integration only when the reform of the socio-economic structural advances in Europe and the competitive mechanism compatible with new circumstances takes shape.

By People's Daily Online